Water issue: The devil is in the details

Sunday

Lost in the General Assembly’s push for a new regional water and sewer authority is the question of whether Hendersonville as well as Asheville might be forced to cede control of its water system.

Lost in the General Assembly’s push for a new regional water and sewer authority is the question of whether Hendersonville as well as Asheville might be forced to cede control of its water system.The Legislature is pushing for a regional entity to handle sewer and water in Buncombe and Henderson counties. The April 19 report of the General Assembly’s Metropolitan Sewerage/Water System Committee details a litany of instances in which Asheville has sown distrust in its relations with Buncombe and Henderson counties.Although the draft report does not specifically mention Hendersonville’s water system, the Legislature’s action raises questions about the future of the city’s water and sewer systems.Aimed primarily at Asheville, the report encourages local governments to accept its finding that a joint regional water and sewer authority “would be in the best interest of the region,” says N.C. Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson.According to McGrady, the General Assembly is not likely to force the creation of a regional water and sewer authority this year, but next year may be a different story. “Whether the findings that are in this report will result in legislation in 2013 is going to be hard to say, but you assume that if all the same players are in place, it’s pretty clearly signaling that some legislation will be offered to implement in the long session in 2013,” McGrady says.Assuming is not something you should do in politics. N.C. Rep. Tim Moffitt, chairman of the legislative study committee, is being challenged by Democrat Jane Whilden in the November general election. McGrady, meanwhile, faces a challenge from Mills River Mayor Roger Snyder in the GOP primary. Snyder has called on Asheville to fulfill its obligations under the 1995 water agreement.Whether or not the “same players are in place” next year, Asheville’s long-standing dispute with Buncombe County over water and annexation isn’t going away. But could Hendersonville — which operates its own water system, serving most of Henderson County — potentially be forced to cede control of that system to a regional entity?“There are never guarantees,” McGrady said. “On the one hand, the fact that Hendersonville’s water intake is very close to one of Asheville’s water intakes suggests that merging the two systems should be considered. On the other, Hendersonville’s history is very different than Asheville’s history. Asheville’s system was actually acquired, in part, from Buncombe County. Hendersonville is also honoring the land-use plans of the various governments whose area it serves.”Asheville was able to build a water intake and treatment plant next door to Hendersonville’s on the Mills River as a result of the failed 1995 regional water agreement between Henderson County and Asheville. Hendersonville officials oppose making the city part of a regional water and sewer authority.Although it might seem unlikely that the General Assembly would consolidate Hendersonville’s water system with Asheville’s, we should beware of the slippery slope when the Legislature starts telling local governments what to do. Just because Asheville and Buncombe County (and to a lessor extent, Henderson County) have been embroiled in a long-standing dispute does not, in our view, justify forcing Hendersonville to give up control of its water system.

Meanwhile, legislators are moving forward with the sewer part of the equation, calling for changes to the legal structure of the Metropolitan Sewerage District that could give Henderson County representation on MSD’s governing board. That, too, could have implications for Hendersonville, depending on how a regional system is designed.The city operates its own relatively new sewage treatment plant on Mud Creek, serving most of Henderson County except for northern areas served by the Cane Creek/MSD system.“It doesn’t make any sense to link Hendersonville’s water system to MSD, because you don’t want to pump waste uphill,” McGrady says. “That being so, one can make a case that linking ‘water in’ to ‘water out’ would suggest that Hendersonville’s system should remain autonomous. However, if there are efficiencies of scale that would allow Hendersonville’s sewer rates to decline by joining MSD — even if the systems aren’t linked — then perhaps combining the water systems would make sense.”Henderson County has more to gain in discussions of becoming part of MSD than Hendersonville. Leaders of both should proceed with extreme caution, knowing that the devil is in the details of regional pacts, should the General Assembly force consolidated control of critical resources and infrastructure.

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